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Survival Games

Project Zomboid dedicated server guide

Set up a Project Zomboid dedicated server with sandbox rules, Steam Workshop mods and admin commands.

Project Zomboid dedicated servers are straightforward but have a few peculiarities — the sandbox rules live in a file, not the admin panel, and mods must be IDs and names.

First start

On first start the server creates servertest.ini, servertest_SandboxVars.lua and servertest_spawnregions.lua in the server folder. Edit these to configure your world.

Key settings in servertest.ini

ServerWelcomeMessage=Welcome to My PZ\nPassword=\nMaxPlayers=32\nPVP=false\nPauseEmpty=true\nOpen=true\nSafetySystem=true

Sandbox tuning

servertest_SandboxVars.lua controls the actual world: zombie count, XP multiplier, loot rarity, weather, day length. PZ Wiki has the full field reference.

Mods

Both IDs and names are required:

Mods=Brita;AuthenticZBiker;SlowConsumption\nWorkshopItems=2196102849;2458631365;1299328280

Order matters — dependencies go first.

Admin commands

  • /addadmin "username" — promote a user.
  • /teleport "username" x y z — teleport a player.
  • /quit — safe shutdown.

Recovering a corrupted save

If a save corrupts, restore the previous panel backup. PZ also keeps .bak files next to save chunks — the community has recovery tools on GitHub.